


Changes

by WotanAnubis



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 18:38:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4930801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Aurora and Maleficent decide what to do with King Stefan's abandoned castle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure whether I should tag this with Aurora/Maleficent. In the end, I decided to just go with it.

It was a bright and sunny day, but not here. Here it was dark, the bare stone corridors a network of shadows. It had relied on candles and torches to provide some light, but they had all burnt out long ago. It was silent here, save for the scurrying of rats.

And, now, the tapping of Maleficent's staff on the abandoned marble as she quietly followed Aurora.

She didn't want to be here. Neither did Aurora. But they had to, more or less. A Queen had duties, after all. The nobles - the _human_ nobles - had come to visit the Queen in her palace in the Moors. They had told her that, while, of course, unification had been achieved and the realm was now one and humans and fae mingled happily and all that, perhaps it would be a good idea if the Queen did not just spend her time in the Moors, but also ruled from the Kingdom for a few months every year. Not that there was any difference between the Moors and the Kingdom any more, of course, but... well... please?

So here they were, Queen Aurora and Maleficent, wandering the empty hallways of the stone castle of the human kings, to see if it would be a suitable residence for the Queen. It wouldn't be, of course. Maleficent had taken great pains to grow for Aurora a beautiful palace of trees and branches and bushes and flowers. No amount of dead stone could possibly be sufficient.

Aurora reached out carefully and brushed the stone wall with her fingertips, looking rather more thoughtful than she usually did.

"It's always so dark here," she said.

"It's stood empty for years," Maleficent said. "Once you have a crowd of servants rushing about to keep every lit it'll be quite homey once more, I expect."

"No, it won't," Aurora said. "This is a cold place."

"Something to consider, certainly," Maleficent said. "The Sylvan Palace of the Moors and the Stone Castle of the Kingdom? Fits, somehow. Very symbolic."

"Symbolic in what way?" Aurora asked.

"Just generally symbolic," Maleficent replied. She had, after all, promised to be less openly insulting towards non-Aurora humanity.

"No, it won't work, I think," Aurora said. "Too much blood in these stones. Too much greed and obsession."

"Such is... _was_ the nature of human kings."

Aurora gave her a sharp glance. Maleficent smiled benevolently.

The two eventually made their way to the throne room. Aurora gasped. Maleficent folded her wings around herself. There was light here, at least. High windows let in the sunlight. One of them was still broken from when Maleficent had burst through it. Everywhere there were the scratches of soldier's iron weaponry or Diaval's talons. Scorch marks hadn't been cleaned up and hadn't faded away.

There were a lot of bad memories here. None worse than the memory from when this chamber was still bright and full of people.

Maleficent felt Aurora gently place her hand on her feathers. Slowly, she unfolded her wings.

"Come on. Let's go."

Only once they were both outside again did Maleficent remember to breathe. The air was clear, too much so for air so near the castle.

"Perhaps it would be wiser to build a new castle someplace else," Maleficent said. "Surely, we'll be able to find some suitable location."

"I don't want a castle," Aurora said. "Not one like this, anyway."

"No castle of yours could possibly be like this one."

Aurora smiled vaguely. She unfastened a pouch from her belt, fished around inside for a moment, and pulled out an acorn. She held up against the sun. Then she turned to Maleficent.

"Would you like to do the honours?"

"As you wish."

Golden, glittering light wrapped itself around the acorn, took it from Aurora's hand and gently took through the air, across the drawbridge, through the gateway and into the darkness of the castle.

"I suggest we stand back," Maleficent said.

The rumbling started not long after. Aurora immediately turned around to watch. Maleficent decided that, in that case, she might as well stay and watch as well.

There was nothing much to see. The castle just stood there - a cold, dark scar in the sunny sky.

The rumbling grew louder, the ground began to shake. Aurora lost her balance and leaned against Maleficent, who flapped her wings twice to stay more or less upright. Then, somewhere within the stone walls of the castle, a roof collapsed. The walls burst out, raining rock into the grass, while bark rose up into the sky. Vast branches spread out, crushing outlying building and walkways. A stone tower tore open and fell towards the ground before it became entangled in the rising branches and was lifted up.

When it was all over, a great oak had risen from the Earth, so vast it seemed as if it held up the sky. The remnants of the castle were slowly getting crushed under its massive roots.

Aurora ran towards the new tree, laughing giddily. Maleficent followed slowly, not quite managing to keep the smugness out of her grin.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Aurora laughed, dancing beneath the leaves. "Now that's a palace I could live in."

"Nonsense," Maleficent said mildly. "You'd catch your death of cold first time there's a storm."

Aurora stopped and smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll find some way. I'd be ever so grateful."

"Well," said Maleficent, "I suppose some things could be arranged. But not today. Shall we go back?"

Aurora looked back longingly at the tree, then turned to Maleficent.

"I suppose."

As they walked away, Maleficent put her arm around Aurora's shoulder. The young Queen leaned into her and sighed happily. They walked slowly. It was a nice day, after all. No need to rush. Moments of privacy were so rare these days. During the day, at least.

"You know, I've been thinking," Aurora began.

"Oh yes?"

"I've been raised by fairies, I live with fairies and I'd rather live in a tree than in a castle."

The corners of Maleficent's lips briefly twitched into a smile.

"Do you think... if I was a fairy... do you think I'd have wings?"

"Naturally, my Beastie. What kind would you like? Butterfly wings?"

"Wings like yours, of course. Strong enough to dance in the sky."

"That would be nice," Maleficent agreed.

"Is it... is it possible? Giving me wings?"

"Sadly, humans don't have wings," Maleficent said.

"But... if I were a fairy..."

"If you were a fairy..."

"And is that possible?"

"Oh, Beastie, it would be terribly difficult. Rare ingredients harvested under the full moon, magic potions, strange incantations, it would be such a lot of work."

Maleficent smiled.

"Something to think about, then," Aurora said.

And they walked out of the oak's shadow and into the sunlight.


End file.
